My brother had a heart attack in June and had a Foley catheter in for about ten days. Now he says he can’t hold his urine as long and he has sexual issues. (Not sure of the details on that. :o )
Anyone else hear of side effects like this, and whether they are temporary? He was pissed (heh) that they put a Foley back in when he was awake and relatively himself, having not known that he had one in while unconscious and while conscious but altered. I don’t know if he has reason to be upset, given they didn’t really have a choice there for a while.
He is under several doctors’ care, so I just ask out of curiosity.
That’s really not all that long to have a cath. “Long term” use of the things is usually measured in months. They do get changed out every few days, but months-long use of them is not terribly uncommon.
Without knowing his full medical history, it would be impossible for anyone here to be able to make any sane semblance of a suggestion as to what might be wrong.
This is definitely something for him to take up with his primary physician.
I can only speak anecdotally here, so I second the suggestion to have your brother talk to his doctor. That said, my father-in-law has had a number of surgical procedures over the years and as he has aged, the catheter thing has become more and more an issue for him. As I understand it (and again, IANAD, so take what I say with that in mind) in older men, general anasthaesia can affect the prostate and bladder, effectively putting those muscles to “sleep.” Each time he has had a foley, he’s needed it for a bit longer than the previous time, and when it’s been removed too soon, he has developed very painful urinary issues. I have no idea about sexual side effects (LALALALALALALA I DON’T WANNA KNOW!) but I imagine it’s entirely possible that your brother has a legit complaint.
The heart attack could affect the sex with decreased blood flow. It can also led to water retention, witch could affect his urine holding ability. It could be what he blamed it on. The doctor should be asked. That may even be a call back answer. Some hospitals have an ask a nurse program, where a nurse can advise you of what type of help to seek, when and why.
A good friend of mine was Foley’d during a hospital stay after a car crash. The “before and after” difference he noticed was that his urine stream was bigger and faster after the cath.
Not that you probably lingered over ocnversations about it, but I’m assuming this went away? My brother reports the same thing, and not being able to sit through a whole theater movie. :eek: That would suck.
I had a urinary tract infection after I had a cath after a hospital stay, but that showed up within a week or two. If he’s been having once since last summer, that’s probably not it.
I’m afraid I wasn’t as clear as I meant to be. He figured the catheter permanently increased the size of his urethra. He didn’t have urgency or frequent urination, but when he did go to pee, it took very little time to offload his urine.
I worked with him, and for a few months we were on a shared assignment. There were times when we took our breaks at the same time. We’d get off our electric truck and walk into a men’s room to stand at the only two urinals. He’d be zipped up and gone when I was barely started. I razzed him about it one day, and he told me about the cath experience, some twenty years before.
He died, rest his soul, at age 49, so I can’t ask him any more questions about it.
And thanks; he is set to start cardiac rehab so that’s a good sign.